IN MEMORIAM

Dale F. Lott

Professor Emeritus, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Davis

 1933—2004

"I first encountered bison not as symbols of the West.... They were simply the animals I had seen most often when I was a young child- enthralling in and of themselves. I still see them that way, and my research goal was to know and understand them better.”

Dale Lott wrote this statement in the preface to his 2002 book, American Bison: a Natural History. His words hint at why he will be missed: his clarity of thought and expression, his enthusiasm for the natural world, his eagerness to share his thoughts and knowledge. American Bison is his best memorial because it is part memoir, part natural history, and part behavioral treatise. It is also written in a very engaging fashion, for a broad audience.

American Bison demonstrates something obvious: Dale never really retired, despite achieving emeritus status in 1994. He retired to write, travel, and spend more time experiencing the world. His death in January 2004, from pulmonary fibrosis, was a shock to his family, friends, and colleagues because we were all expecting him to continue to be part of our lives and to continue his work. In fact, he was planning to devote even more time to bison conservation and to write a book on the subject. He was counting on continuing interactions with his friends and colleagues, and the support of his wife, Laura, who he thanked in his book for putting up with “...the distractible spouse and the slipping-sliding piles of books and sheets of paper here and there that my writing always entails.”

Dale was born in 1933 in a small town in Montana near the National Bison Range where his father worked, becoming imprinted on bison early in life. Growing up first on the bison range and then on a hard-scrabble cattle ranch was not easy. Nevertheless both he and his brother Robert broke away to college, Dale to Montana State University, where he majored in English, graduating in 1959.

Dale’s interest in behavior took him next to the University of California, Berkeley where he obtained a M.S. in psychology (1961) followed by a Ph.D. at the University of Washington (1964). At both institutions, he studied the behavior of white rats. He then moved on to a postdoctoral position at Rutgers University, where he conducted similar studies on ring doves. These studies led to a series of highly cited publications, resulting in his coming to Davis as an assistant professor of psychology in 1965. Significantly, he stopped by the bison range on the way to California to make his first formal observations on bison behavior.

Once established at UC Davis he continued his behavioral studies, but he also worked on the design of bicycle paths in Davis with his first wife, Donna K. Lott. This resulted in a series of reports, papers, and notes that had (and continue to have) a major impact on the world-renowned bike path system of Davis.

Meanwhile, his long-term studies on bison behavior began to pay off. A long series of popular articles, films, and scientific publications on bison began appearing in 1972, culminating in his 2002 book.

Dale began a study with Benjamin L. Hart on the relationship between cattle and the Fulani people of Nigeria, which they recognized as a two-species social system. Dale’s interest in human-wildlife interactions led to other studies, such as one on the impact of eco-tourists on the behavior of rhinoceros in Nepal and one on why people feed mountain sheep. Other more basic behavioral studies involved badgers, pronghorn, African sunbirds, and California quail. These studies were all part of the new field of comparative social behavior and social systems, in which Dale was recognized internationally as an expert. His work in this area culminated in a major review paper (1984) on intraspecific variation in the social systems of wild vertebrates. Seven years later an expanded version of this major work was published as a book by Cambridge University Press.

Dale’s considerable skills as an observer and his natural skepticism were put to a test when he took a lead role in a series of studies of animals as portents of earthquakes beginning in 1977. Working all over the world his team found that animals were not reliable predictors of impending tremblers, knocking down some cherished myths.

While Dale had a world reputation as a behavioral scientist, he was locally renowned for work in the community and at the university. In 1973, he left the Psychology Department to join the fledgling department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology as its first chair. Dale took a big risk to do this because the department was a motley assortment of faculty and extension specialists who had been placed willy-nilly together. His job was to mold this fractious group into a functioning unit. He did this through a combination of personal diplomacy, parties, democratic department meetings, and an ability to take a strong stand when he had to. It was all done with good humor, a ready smile, and encouraging words. His six years as chair saw the department mature and gain the respect that led to it being considered one of the best departments of its kind in the country. More importantly, he fostered an attitude of cooperation within the department that still exists.

In this same period, Dale also became one of the founding members of the Graduate Group in Animal Behavior, which is the largest group of faculty working on animal behavior at any university in the world.

Dale stepped down as chair in 1979, happy to devote more time to teaching animal behavior, mentoring graduate students, and conducting research, as well as to travel, including trips by airplanes that he piloted. There were literally dozens of trips that Dale organized that are the basis of wonderful memories of his friends and colleagues.

Dale leaves many friends, family, and colleagues behind, who truly miss him. He also leaves a rare legacy of lasting accomplishment both inside and outside academia, from bicycle paths, to classic publications, to the preservation of bison and their ecosystems.

 Peter B. Moyle
 Dirk Van Vuren
 Daniel W. Anderson